The Midnight Queen [48]
of leaving you when she thought
you were dying; so never mind Prudence, but say, will you be
ready?"
"I will."
"That is my good little Leoline. Now give me a kiss, Lady
Kingsley, and good-night."
Lady Kingsley dutifully obeyed; and Sir Norman went out with a
glow at his heart, like a halo round a full moon.
CHAPTER X.
THE PAGE, THE FIRES, AND THE FALL.
The night was intensely dark when Sir Norman got into it once
more; and to any one else would have been intensely dismal, but
to Sir Norman all was bright as the fair hills of Beulah. When
all is bright within, we see no darkness without; and just at
that moment our young knight had got into one of those green and
golden glimpses of sunshine that here and there checker life's
rather dark pathway, and with Leoline beside him would have
thought the dreary whores of the Dead Sea itself a very paradise.
It was now near midnight, and there was an unusual concourse of
people in the sheets, waiting for St. Paul's to give the signal
to light the fires. He looked around for Ormiston; but Ormiston
was nowhere to be seen - horse and rider had disappeared. His
own horse stood tethered where he had left him. Anxious as he
was to ride back to the ruin, and see the play played out, he
could not resist the temptation of lingering a brief period in
the city, to behold the grand spectacle of the myriad fires.
Many persons were hurrying toward St. Paul's to witness it from
the dome; and consigning his horse to the care of the sentinel on
guard at the house opposite, he joined them, and was soon
striding along, at a tremendous pace, toward the great cathedral.
Ere he reached it, its long-tongued clock tolled twelve, and all
the other churches, one after another, took up the sound, and the
witching hour of midnight rang and rerang from end to end of
London town. As if by magic, a thousand forked tongues of fire
shot up at once into the blind, black night, turning almost in an
instant the darkened face of the heavens to an inflamed, glowing
red. Great fires were blazing around the cathedral when they
reached it, but no one stopped to notice them, but only hurried
on the faster to gain their point of observation.
Sir Norman just glanced at the magnificent pile - for the old St.
Paul's was even more magnificent than the new, - and then
followed after the rest, through many a gallery, tower, and
spiral staircase till the dome was reached. And there a grand
and mighty spectacle was before him - the whole of London swaying
and heaving in one great sea of fire. From one end to the other,
the city seemed wrapped in sheets of flame, and every street, and
alley, and lane within it shone in a lurid radiance far brighter
than noonday. All along the river fires were gleaming, too; and
the whole sky had turned from black to blood-red crimson. The
streets were alive and swarming - it could scarcely be believed
that the plague-infested city contained half so many people, and
all were unusually hopeful and animated; for it was popularly
believed that these fires would effectually check the pestilence.
But the angry fiat of a Mighty Judge had gone forth, and the
tremendous arm of the destroying angel was not to be stopped by
the puny hand of man.
It has been said the weather for weeks was unusually brilliant,
days of cloudless sunshine, nights of cloudless moonlight, and
the air was warm and sultry enough for the month of August in the
tropics. But now, while they looked, a vivid flash of lightning,
from what quarter of the heavens no man knew, shot athwart the
sky, followed by another and another, quick, sharp, and blinding.
Then one great drop of rain fell like molten lead on the
pavement, then a second and a third quicker, faster, and thicker,
until down it crashed in a perfect deluge. It did not wait to
rain; it fell in floods - in great, slanting sheets
you were dying; so never mind Prudence, but say, will you be
ready?"
"I will."
"That is my good little Leoline. Now give me a kiss, Lady
Kingsley, and good-night."
Lady Kingsley dutifully obeyed; and Sir Norman went out with a
glow at his heart, like a halo round a full moon.
CHAPTER X.
THE PAGE, THE FIRES, AND THE FALL.
The night was intensely dark when Sir Norman got into it once
more; and to any one else would have been intensely dismal, but
to Sir Norman all was bright as the fair hills of Beulah. When
all is bright within, we see no darkness without; and just at
that moment our young knight had got into one of those green and
golden glimpses of sunshine that here and there checker life's
rather dark pathway, and with Leoline beside him would have
thought the dreary whores of the Dead Sea itself a very paradise.
It was now near midnight, and there was an unusual concourse of
people in the sheets, waiting for St. Paul's to give the signal
to light the fires. He looked around for Ormiston; but Ormiston
was nowhere to be seen - horse and rider had disappeared. His
own horse stood tethered where he had left him. Anxious as he
was to ride back to the ruin, and see the play played out, he
could not resist the temptation of lingering a brief period in
the city, to behold the grand spectacle of the myriad fires.
Many persons were hurrying toward St. Paul's to witness it from
the dome; and consigning his horse to the care of the sentinel on
guard at the house opposite, he joined them, and was soon
striding along, at a tremendous pace, toward the great cathedral.
Ere he reached it, its long-tongued clock tolled twelve, and all
the other churches, one after another, took up the sound, and the
witching hour of midnight rang and rerang from end to end of
London town. As if by magic, a thousand forked tongues of fire
shot up at once into the blind, black night, turning almost in an
instant the darkened face of the heavens to an inflamed, glowing
red. Great fires were blazing around the cathedral when they
reached it, but no one stopped to notice them, but only hurried
on the faster to gain their point of observation.
Sir Norman just glanced at the magnificent pile - for the old St.
Paul's was even more magnificent than the new, - and then
followed after the rest, through many a gallery, tower, and
spiral staircase till the dome was reached. And there a grand
and mighty spectacle was before him - the whole of London swaying
and heaving in one great sea of fire. From one end to the other,
the city seemed wrapped in sheets of flame, and every street, and
alley, and lane within it shone in a lurid radiance far brighter
than noonday. All along the river fires were gleaming, too; and
the whole sky had turned from black to blood-red crimson. The
streets were alive and swarming - it could scarcely be believed
that the plague-infested city contained half so many people, and
all were unusually hopeful and animated; for it was popularly
believed that these fires would effectually check the pestilence.
But the angry fiat of a Mighty Judge had gone forth, and the
tremendous arm of the destroying angel was not to be stopped by
the puny hand of man.
It has been said the weather for weeks was unusually brilliant,
days of cloudless sunshine, nights of cloudless moonlight, and
the air was warm and sultry enough for the month of August in the
tropics. But now, while they looked, a vivid flash of lightning,
from what quarter of the heavens no man knew, shot athwart the
sky, followed by another and another, quick, sharp, and blinding.
Then one great drop of rain fell like molten lead on the
pavement, then a second and a third quicker, faster, and thicker,
until down it crashed in a perfect deluge. It did not wait to
rain; it fell in floods - in great, slanting sheets